Here & Now

Wisconsin's 2026 Supreme Court Candidates on ICE and the Law

Frederica Freyberg:
This week “Here & Now” senior political reporter Zac Schultz sat down with the two candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. Appellate Court Judge Maria Lazar and Appellate Court Judge Chris Taylor. Over the next two weeks, we’ll have extended interviews with the candidates but this week, we wanted to show you their reactions to some questions about ICE enforcement in Minneapolis.

Zac Schultz:
There’s obviously a lot of controversy over ICE’s engagements in Minnesota right now. There’s speculation that that could be moving to Wisconsin. What role would the Wisconsin court system have when we’ve heard some local law enforcement say they will not work with federal officials. Some say they will work with. When it comes to protesters’ rights, how do you see Wisconsin courts getting involved in this, or is this strictly a federal issue?

Maria Lazar:
It is a federal issue. In the circumstances, you never want to see anyone injured or lose their life. That’s a tragedy in all respects, in every case. But I think that cooler heads have to prevail. There is a right to First Amendment freedom of speech, but I also believe that this is an excellent example of why we need our courts. In this case, it’s probably federal courts, but why we need our courts to be fair, impartial and independent, to look at the facts, to make a reasoned, calm decision, and to do so fairly and justly.

Chris Taylor:
Certainly. I will tell you, Zac, as I go out around the state, I think that Wisconsinites are really concerned by what they’re seeing in Minnesota. They’re afraid, and I don’t blame them. Courts, state courts must make sure that every person who violates the law is held accountable. So in Minnesota, they should do their full and fair investigation, and then they will make a decision in that state about whether criminal charges will be brought and they should be able to do that. So yes, state courts absolutely could be involved because criminal charges are brought in state courts typically. Nobody is above the law. The Constitution applies to everyone. And so I think that we will see some involvement or potentially see involvement if there are criminal charges filed in the Minnesota state courts. And that could happen here in Wisconsin as well.

Zac Schultz:
And there was a statement by the FBI director, Kash Patel, over the weekend saying, you can’t bring a firearm loaded to any kind of protest that you want. I want to get your legal reaction to whether that is a true statement, in the sense that the First Amendment and the Second Amendment.

Maria Lazar:
I would have no idea what those rules are with regard to federal rules about bringing a firearm. I think you’re violating possibly the Second Amendment, where people have the right to conceal carry, their right to open carry. I wouldn’t comment on his statement at all whatsoever.

Chris Taylor:
Well, I don’t know all of the laws that the state of Minnesota, but I believe they do have a concealed carry law. So, you know, this investigation of what exactly happened in this scenario will play out and we will find out a lot more. And we will see if Minnesota makes the decision on how they’re going to act. Are criminal charges going to be brought or other charges going to be brought? But I don’t specifically know all the laws in Minnesota. But what I would say is everyone should support a full and complete investigation into what occurred and if there has been unlawful activity, people need to be held accountable. But I want to make sure that Minnesota has that ability to do their investigation and make their conclusions before I jump to any conclusions. But my gosh, we should be standing in support of them being able to do that.